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The Untraveled Road

“It’s a hard thing to leave any deeply routine life” –John Steinbeck

My life has always been structured in a predictable fashion. When I was younger, it began with baseball practice, my days were set in stone. The bus came at 9:00 AM, I would come home get changed for practice, be at practice for 5:00 PM and in my free time, I would be stuffing my face with any kind of food to fuel my constant activity. This structure stayed the same as I grew up, the sport changed from baseball, to football and basketball, depending on the season, but the routine of my life stayed the same. Even as my high school sports career began I soon realized that routine was always a fixed part of my life. When I started attending college, I expected change, but the routine continued, wake up at 5:30 AM, workout at 6:00 AM practice at 7:30 AM go to class at 10:00 AM leave for work to be there for 12:00 PM, go to academic and athletic meetings at 5:30 PM, work on homework at 7:00 PM, get to, sleep by 11:00 PM (on a good night), repeat. The time of life when you are supposed to be making your own decisions and enjoying your first taste of freedom, does not seem so free.

So what should I expect when this never-ending routine and structure is no longer there? Should I be frightened that once I no longer have this routine I can’t handle the real world? This new chapter is right around the corner and for the first time in my life, I have no idea what to expect when I am finally free. The best suggestion I have received is, “be open to the unexpected and enjoy it all.” This quote is the complete opposite of the life I currently live. Honestly, it made me slightly anxious when I heard it, as I broke down this phrase in my head, it made me realize, nothing is wrong with having a schedule, but being able to adapt and change current plans is necessary. In order to succeed, you need to take the untraveled road, break away from what you know and allow yourself to adapt, because that untraveled road provides you an opportunity. That you can only find out what when you travel down that path.

Adventure is what life is all about and the routines of my early life provided me the skills such as work ethic and time management to excel once I gain that autonomy of freedom in my life. When those daily schedules no longer exist, I will be waiting for those unexpected events, and I cannot wait for what they have in store for me. That unexpected change can and will happen, but I am prepared and will enjoy the journey that life puts me on.